


Subdued

by 2Kris_P



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Minor Spoilers, My Unit | Byleth Has Emotions, Pre-Time Skip, Rain, slight language warning, students worried for their professor, there's one bad word, you all know what i'm talking about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 08:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20963450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2Kris_P/pseuds/2Kris_P
Summary: Hilda blurted out, "What are we going to do? We need to do something. Has anyone evenseenProfessor Byleth since the funeral?"Claude was startled to realize, no, he really hadn't, aside from quick glimpses around the dormitories here or there. Had she even been eating?...Claude stood up, his chair nearly falling over with the sudden and quick movement. "Ignatz, teach everyone something."The pen dropped to the desk with a clatter that was much too loud. "M-me? What?" was Ignatz's response."You probably have some interesting facts rattling around your brain," Claude said, making his way toward the classroom entrance. "You're always in the library, after all. I'm going to go and find Teach."





	Subdued

As cliché as it was, it was raining the next couple of days after Jeralt had died. The entire monastery was subdued, some more than others, of course. Claude kept his wit in check, unsure what was appropriate or not, especially after he had tried to lighten the atmosphere earlier and Leonie nearly burst into tears. He apologized and she seemingly forgave him, but she still retreated to her dormitory instead of staying with the rest of the class in their homeroom. 

Not that they really expected Byleth to show up to teach whatever lesson she had planned starting the next week. Really, Claude was sure the rest of them had gravitated toward the classroom due to being unsure what else to do. Ignatz was beginning to grate on Claude's nerves – and, possibly, Lorenz's nerves as well, if the other's barely hidden glare was any indication – with his pen tapping on his parchment. Raphael was staring into space, having not even said a word about food or training, and Marianne looked as if she just wanted to curl back up in bed. Lysithea was reading, mumbling the words to herself as if the text itself could whisk her away from reality, and her whispers were apparently annoying Hilda.

Indeed, Hilda blurted out, "What are we going to do? We need to do something. Has anyone even _seen_ Professor Byleth since the funeral?"

Claude was startled to realize, no, he really hadn't, aside from quick glimpses around the dormitories here or there. Had she even been eating?

"Is… Is there anything we can do?" Marianne said, her voice as quiet as always.

"Maybe just be on our best behavior, I guess?" Raphael suggested. "We can always do our best in class and during missions… _If_ we get missions again. Claude?"

Claude blinked up at the big guy, abruptly realizing that the rest of the class was staring at him.

Right. House leader. Claude was the man with the plan. Or the man who came up with the plans. Or something like that.

"Alright, yeah… Yeah, keep up with our work and do our best. Teach likes it when we do well." That sounded ridiculous. She was a teacher, after all, all teachers liked it when their students did well.

Claude stood up, his chair nearly falling over with the sudden and quick movement. "Ignatz, teach everyone something."

The pen dropped to the desk with a clatter that was much too loud. "M-me? What?" was Ignatz's response.

"You probably have some interesting facts rattling around your brain," Claude said, making his way toward the classroom entrance. "You're always in the library, after all. I'm going to go and find Teach."

He left before anyone could ask him what exactly he planned to do when he found Teach. He wasn't sure himself.

He did check in on Leonie, half-hoping that perhaps his classmate was actually with their professor. It would have been good therapy for the both of them, if Claude knew anything about that kind of stuff. And, while Claude had been able to apologize again for Leonie's loss and he at least got to see her give him a small smile as she reminded him that she already forgave him, Leonie had unfortunately not seen Teach.

"Is that awful of me?" Leonie asked, biting her lip and looking so unlike the confident Leonie Claude knew that his stomach dropped to his toes. "I mean… I lost a mentor. But she… She lost her father… But all I can think of is how lost I feel right now."

"Grief isn't a competition," Claude said. "You both lost someone very important to you. We all lost someone very important to the monastery… to our home. What you're feeling is entirely valid. I just… I'm so sorry about this…"

"Thank you, Claude," Leonie said. She took a shuddering deep breath before nudging him out of the dorm. "Now go find the professor. I think she may need someone by her side more than I do."

Claude gave her a brief smile before going to do as she said. It took him a little longer to search the monastery to find her – even popping back into the classroom at one point to see if she had made it there, but found the rest of the class actually listening to Ignatz talk about something by the board – and he eventually found Teach on a bench near the fishing pond.

He stared at her for a few minutes, seeing if she would move, but she barely blinked, her chest rising minutely with small breaths, and somewhere in the back of Claude's mind, a voice mentioned how she would catch her death – which was a really poor choice of words at this time, fuck you, internal voice – of cold if she stayed sitting in the rain. While Claude was soaked, he couldn’t imagine how drenched the professor was.

"Teach…?" Claude spoke quietly as he reached her side. Any other words he was going to say were swallowed as her gaze drifted to him. He couldn't tell what was rain and what was tears on her face, and he assumed that was why the professor was sitting out in the rain in the first place.

But Claude couldn't in good conscious let Professor Byleth stay out in the rain for any longer. Gently, he took her by the elbow and, despite her murmurings of, "I'm alright, you should go get dry," led her towards the gazebos in the gardens. It was close by, fairly private, with a sturdy roof over their heads. Claude really should be trying to make the professor get something to eat or rest in her room, but it didn't seem like she was ready to potentially face others just yet.

So they sat there. And, for once, Claude didn't have anything to say, had nothing witty on the tip of his tongue. Apologies and condolences for her loss, sentiments that have been shared constantly for the past few days, would do nothing right now. He merely sat beside Teach as she stared at her lap, as silent tears began to trickle their way down her cheek, as her shoulders began to shake. Claude wished that he had something to throw over her – a cloak, a blanket, something – but he was internally rationalizing that it would have been too wet from the storm to be of any use at this point.

He wasn't quite sure how long they were sitting there until he heard her sniff and whisper, "Claude…?"

"Right here, Teach," he said, immediately turning to her. She was still staring at her lap and he waited as she collected her thoughts. 

"You're going to get sick," was what the professor eventually said as she reached out to tug at his sleeves.

"So could you," was his simple response, unsure as to how this conversation would go, as he twisted his wrist to hold onto her sleeve in return. Comforting contact was good in times of grief, right?

She took another deep breath, another shudder, before looking up at him. And, dammit, Claude always saw her as stoic, matter-of-fact, her face never revealing any of her plans, but this time, her eyes were wide, wavering as she held back more tears, and – _dammit_ – she should never look that vulnerable again.

"Why did you come out in the rain?" she asked.

"To find you, Teach," Claude said. "We weren't sure what to do when you didn't show up for class. Not that you had to, that's up to you, but…" He trailed off. "We were worried."

"I'm sorry," the professor said. "I should have gone to class or at least let you all know to take the day. I apologize for wasting everyone's time and for you getting soaked from the rain…"

"Time wasn't wasted," Claude said. "Ignatz is teaching."

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "He is? Teaching what?"

Claude had no idea. "Art."

Professor Byleth stared at him momentarily before the corners of her lips twitched up at the no doubt absurd answer. Claude couldn't help but give her a crooked smile at the sight, which prompted her to huff out a small chuckle and sigh.

That little bit of laughter sounded wonderful.

The professor looked back out at the rain and said softly, "It's not letting up anytime soon, is it?"

"It might be a while," Claude said, "but the sun will come out again, no matter how long it takes."

It was a cheesy sentiment, one that the professor understood if the glance she gave him was any indication, but Claude meant it. He wasn't quite sure what was going to happen next, but the Golden Deer house would get through it together.

And that included Teach.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me elsewhere, just to chat about anything or to find original writings: [Tumblr](https://2krisp.tumblr.com) & [WordPress](https://krispoli.com).


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